Thursday, 30 June 2011

Andy - you have lots of contacts - please help spread the word and help prevent this family being evicted from their own land for daring to live without the help of the state.http://www.petitiononline.co.uk/petition/remove-the-injunction-to-evict-the-masons-from-muxbeare-orchard/3054A COUPLE living an “off-grid” lifestyle say they face prison unless they move from their own land in Willand and return to an existence in the benefits trap.Stig and Dinah Mason bought Muxbeare Orchard after a sudden windfall allowed them to quit their impoverished lives on a Hertfordshire council estate two years ago.Dinah and Stig Mason with sons Yosse, 8, and Dahli, 9, and Moo the dog at their lorry home MARCUS THOMPSON EXMT20110614F-003_CDinah and Stig Mason will be evicted from their own land EXMT20110614F-001_C••The Masons have transformed what they described as a derelict four-acre plot into a haven of self-sufficiency boasting a 400 sq m allotment, a polytunnel and greenhouses to grow fruit and vegetables, chickens for egg production and an orchard they have regenerated by planting around 14 new apple trees of various species.The couple, who have two boys, aged eight and nine, say because they moved onto the site in order to work the land, Mid Devon District Council is turfing them off as officers do not consider them to be conserving an agricultural area.They faced magistrates on March 31 when they were served with an injunction to leave within 28 days from June 1.Dinah, 35, who spent a year with her husband clearing four-foot high nettles and thistles which engulfed the four-acre site, said: “How anybody can say the orchard was being conserved before is beyond my comprehension.”Dinah works while Stig, 34, as well as making sure the children get to school on time, tends to the land on a daily basis where peas, potatoes, garlic, strawberries, raspberries and various produce have been growing since 2009.Vegetarians Stig and Dinah claim council officers offered them bed and breakfast accommodation in Cullompton at taxpayers’ expense and suggested they live on take aways, which are likely to cost around £20 for each family meal.Dinah’s income currently provides the family with everything they need which they cannot grow themselves but is unlikely to stretch to cover kennelling costs for their dog, Moo.They say they currently receive no state hand-outs but by giving up their “off grid” way of life, they fear they will end up in a council house, claiming housing and council tax benefits, as well as seeking grants to help pay for high utility bills.Stig, chairman of the Willand Composting Scheme and a member of the primary school’s PTFA, sells eggs, produce, and hopefully cider in the future but explained that planning permission to live and work on the land was refused in 2009 which they are appealing against.He said one of the council’s reasons for refusal was based on a belief the couple had did not have a “sound enough business plan.”As well as plans to sell more produce locally, the couple say it is only likely to take them a further two years to get to a stage where they will be able to grow six to eight months’ worth of vegetables.Dinah, who is a community care worker, cub leader and also a member of the PTFA, said: “To live in an agricultural area you need to have a financial need, but this gives us enough to live on, but our whole ethos is not about making money.“The council is saying by us living here it becomes mixed-use and is therefore no longer deemed agricultural.”Dinah was bequeathed money from the sudden death of her aunt and £47,000 was spent on the land to create the smallholding where wood burners and solar panels provide their energy needs.Dinah said removing them from their land will render them homeless and is concerned they will have to pull their children out of Willand Primary School if they have to move out of the area.But several people from across the country have written to the council in support of the family’s retention.Anne Wallington, whose family has had an interest in the village for 44 years, wrote to the council in support of the Masons by praising their hard work in reclaiming what was “rapidly becoming derelict land.” David Thompson, who also lives in the village, said “they are trying to live up to the Government’s pledge to take better care of the environment and this is the last orchard in the vicinity of Willand.”John Clarke, planning enforcement officer, said: “To get planning permission to move onto agricultural land, you have to prove first there is a need for someone to live there, for example, to tend livestock and look after crops, and second, that the enterprise can provide living income for at least one worker.“Neither condition was met and therefore took the necessary action to protect the nature of the rural landscape and prevent unlawful habitation.”The council said it cannot comment on individual cases of housing need and said bed and breakfast accommodation is offered if people are homeless.via thisisdevon.co.uk

Subscribe Now: iheart

GIVE SCOTLAND AND HER PEOPLE OUR WATERS BACK NOW

Buzz button

If you like my blog please vote here , many thanks

HATE FREE HIGHLANDS

OOR HAME IN THE HIGHLANDS

Travellers Times

Help

Hi, if you have enjoyed your time here on my wee blog , and you would like to help me keep this blog going then click the donate and send 20p

Love and light

A wee film about us on STVs the HOUR SHOW click on STV logo to see the film

Andy the Daft Hermit lives 45 minutes outside Inverness with his wife Mel in an old bus parked in a layby. This current home of theirs is the longest they have ever stayed in one spot. “I’ve been travelling now 25 years,” said Andy Lowe. “Mel’s been travelling 15. One of the reasons we’ve come and stayed up here is because of Mel’s health. I wanted to bring her to the mountains for fresh air and clean water and just a slower pace of life.” Mel has had breast cancer twice, skin cancer once, and for three years believed she had bone cancer after being wrongly diagnosed. Andy’s belief in the restorative powers of the north made them pack up ‘The Black Bus’ that they live in and cross the border into Scotland. New Highland home for hermit couple Andy and Mel “I think we both believe in trying to get to a more simple way of life,” said Andy, “but it’s strange for us because we are sort of hermits, or we like to live separate, but it’s not being anti-social… it’s just the way we are that allows us to be creative.” Andy first began travelling when he left the army. Fed up with bureaucracy he packed a rucksack and left for France and has been travelling ever since. By investing any money the couple have earned into solar panels and wind generators they now live a self-sustaining existence, without electric bills, and collect rain water “straight from Heaven”. “It’s not easy,” said Mel. “There might be time when there might not be enough facilities around, but you always find a way, you know?” Rather than rejecting technology, Andy blogs about his travels online and collaborates with artists from around the world via his ‘Scratchy Heid Film Studio’, which he runs from a static trailer next to the couple’s bus. He explained his philosophy: “My belief is that if you can go through life and you drop dead and you’ve got a balance there that slightly outweighs the good than the bad, you’ve done alright. “Yesterday, with what Mel’s been through with the cancer and all that, I had a woman on one of my sites there that thanked me for the writing, for the positive things, and to me that’s worth everything. You can keep your millions, we’re not interested. That is what we do.” To check out Andy’s artwork and video projects check out his website. MORE FROM THE NORTH

Loch Ness film festival

On Facebook

Northern Lights

By submitting your story you could win £2500, and we have lots of smaller cash awards up for grabs so don't forget to follow us on Twitter and Facebook to be the first to learn about them. You can also put yourself in the running to be our Best Ambassador by talking about us and tagging us @wernlights on Twitter or @wearenorthernlights on Facebook.

TOURING SCOTLAND

Creative Boom Scotland

Spreading love and peace

BlogUpp!

Life blogs

Scottish Independence TV

This group has been set up to raise awareness of Scottish Independence in the run up to the 2014 referendum. We also welcome groups that support Palestine, Wales, Catalonia, The Basque and a United Ireland. We promote healthy debate on this group feel free to add your friends or anyone you think may be interested in the topics discussed here. We will also be setting up a youtube channel so anyone who can make decent videos message the admin. Twitter accounts and Blogspot pages will also be linked to this group so watch this space! Saor Alba!

BBC News - Highlands & Islands

Making a wee wodburner from a gas bottle is simple . no need for welding and to be able to install a heater for under £5.00 is music to my old wallet.and the real beauty is it takes very little to heat up the truck. and with all the insulation i have fitted the heat is retained throughout the night.

The next step will be to convert a wee botle to an oven to fit on top and above that will be a water tank .. grab as much energy from one wee log as possible

I hope you enjoy the wee film love and light from all in the wee mobile hovel here in the Scottish mountains.

Greengypsies Photography

My name is Frank Pickavant and I've been a keen amateur photographer for many years. I love the beauty and diversity of the British landscape and how it changes from season to season. Over the years I've accumulated many photographs that few people ever get to see, so I decided to create this website to share with family and friends and anybody else that happens to stumble across the site. I hope that you enjoy my photographs and also enjoy my musical slideshows that incorporate my favourite shots with music that I think will help viewers appreciate the mood of the photographs.

Friends of the Earth Scotland

MND SCOTLAND

We provide care, support and information for people affected by motor neurone disease in Scotland and also fund research. Find us on twitter @mndscotland

MY SCOTTISH PRIDEI WILL NOT HIDEMY SCOTTISH RACEI WILL NOT DISGRACEMY SCOTTISH BLOODFLOWS HOT AND TRUEMY SCOTTISH PEEPSI WILL STAND BY YOUTHRU THICK AND THINTILL THE DAY WE DIEOUR SCOTTISH FLAGALWAYS STANDS SO HIGHAND I SHOUT THIS POEMLOUDER THAN THE RESTCOZ EVERY ONE KNOWSWE SCOTS ARE THE BEST

Bloggers.com

Hope Rocks

Dafthermit...

A fat wee bald idiot that lives a simple life...

Where we live

View from the bedroom window in the bus

oor wee home

....................

dafthermit

Stop Canadas cruel sea hunt

Welcome

Welcome to my wee blog.My name is Andy ( The Dafthermit ) . For the last 20 odd years i have ben trying to get back to a simpler way of life and finally in my old bus up here in the Scottish mountains i am finally getting there. My time now is spent taking pictures of the highlands ,making films to show the world the beauty all around and writing something that has surprised me having had a few of my stories published , Having picked up a camera and laptop in 2008 i have really enjoyeed the journey the camera has taken me on again having had a couple of pictures in national magazines, last year three of ,my films where shown at the Loch Ness film festival. anyway i hope you enjoy your visit to my wee blog